Bono, The Edge join Ukrainian act Antytila on stage in London

U2’s Bono and The Edge joined Ukrainian band Antytila onstage for a surprise performance last night (February 26th) at Electric Brixton.

This marks the second time that the groups have played together–the first being in a bomb shelter in Kyiv under Volodymyr Zelenkyy’s personal invitation.

The London show began with Antytila performing ‘MLNL’, an album released just a couple days into Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Bono and The Edge surprised the audience by coming on stage and performing ‘Mothers of the Disappeared’, a haunting track off of their fifth studio album The Joshua Tree.

The song contains lyrics such as “Midnight, our sons and daughters / Cut down, taken from us / Hear their heartbeat/ We hear their heartbeat.”

The band dedicated the performance to the mothers of Ukraine.

@antytila_offic and @U2 in @electricbrixton pic.twitter.com/ry1YF10Teb

— Raphael (@raphal80) February 26, 2023

“These musicians - Taras, Dmytros, Sherhi, Dmytros, Mykhailo… The people of Ukraine, don’t want to be at war. They want peace, but not without freedom,” said U2 in a caption on their social media, beneath photos of the show.

This is not the first time that Antytila has teamed up with other artists to bring attention to the war. In the Spring of 2022, the band teamed up with Ed Sheeran to remix his song ‘2Step’ with the funds being donated to Music Saves UA.

Depicting children dancing through war-torn Kyiv, and with a verse added in Ukrainian, the song and accompanying video portrays the humanity of the conflict and urges those impacted to hold on hope.

Antytila asserts on their website that they are going on their European tour to “sing about Ukraine, to convey the truth about the Ukrainian reality at war, to spread Ukrainian modern music and become part of the world cultural environment.”